FIAN takes roots in Indonesia
After almost a decade of exchanges, Indonesians come together to form a FIAN section in the country, paving the way for a zero-hunger Indonesia.
The human rights organization took roots in Indonesia last January, becoming the fourth office in Asia. FIAN’s work in the country comes at a time when 19 million Indonesians face hunger. Today, while most of Indonesia’s 255 million population lives in rural areas and works in the agricultural sector as food producers, 16 million farmers are still landless and do not have adequate access to food producing resources.
Commenting on the founding of the office, FIAN Indonesia’s Chairperson Laksmi Savitri said: “Despite the right to food and nutrition being implicit in the Indonesian Constitution, it is not acknowledged by the people. Nor is the government conscious about its obligation. In the face of free trade agreements such as the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and ASEAN Economic Community – which started to be implemented this year, the country will be facing more and more the issue of large scale land grabbing and farming dictated by the global supermarket. All these developments will have a negative impact on people’s ability to feed themselves and cause violations of their right to food. This is the main reason why FIAN is needed in Indonesia.”
Despite Indonesia’s ratification of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the enactment of Food Law 18/2012, many have been evicted – or are facing displacement – in the name of development and economic growth, and their rights are violated. Indonesia has signed 64 bilateral investment treaties, 24 multilateral agreements and 15 comprehensive free trade agreements, and currently, there are plans to join the TPP. The detrimental impact of trade agreements on people’s ability to feed themselves has been widely documented and threatens the right to food of millions of Indonesians.
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